Tea and Tea Parties

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Did you know that tea is the second most popular drink in the world? Water is the first. Hazel is going through a stage of loving tea parties and always wanting to have one. I decided to combine all of this into our cultural studies of various countries and start a new series: Tea Parties Around the World and you are cordially invited to all of them!! Before celebrating a party I thought I should learn more about tea itself. And thanks to my friends at Quarto Books, I am able to share with you The Art and Craft of Tea by Joseph Wesley Uhl and some of the information I found out about tea from it. 

The book goes into details about the various kinds of tea and what makes each tea differently. The flavor of tea is changed by the growing environment, how the leaves are processed and more. It is similar to how these items change the flavor of wine. Therefore the region the tea comes from changes the flavor. Tea comes from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plants. There is a long history to tea, but this book focuses more on the variations and how things from the tea vessel (pot) can affect the flavor. This book goes into how to make the perfect cup of tea and provides recipes for making various tea from the different countries. I will be using this book as a resource through some of our tea parties. It is an excellent resource for any tea lover or people who want to learn more about this popular drink around the world. 

Tea Plant By Sebastianjude [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know how the tea is picked affects the flavor? The details about tea in this book will amaze you.  This book will help us as we explore tea and how it is drunk throughout the year. We will look at who drinks black, white, green and yellow teas and how they are produced and made as well as drank. We will also look at the cultural aspect of how the teas are served and drank. Join us as we explore different cultures doing something many do every day--drinking tea. We are going to start with a look at a historical "tea party"-- the Boston Tea Party. Join us tomorrow for our fun look at this historical event by having a tea party. And be sure to pick up a copy of The Art and Craft of Tea so you can learn more about this amazing drink with us!!